My journey started early Friday the 25th, making sure I had everything I needed before I boarded my 0900 flight from Phoenix to Dulles. I arrived around 1600 at Dulles airport, and headed to my hotel room for the night. That evening I also met up with another member of our group at the hotel, Andrew, who flew in from Denver. The following morning, we were joined by a few other group members, and eventually made our way to West Virginia to our rally point, Private Quinn’s Pub, and meet the rest of our group.
Private Quinn’s Pub, located in Harpers Ferry, was my first time meeting most of the team in person. Along with the 24 of us participating in the ruck, we also had about 8 support personnel. We spent some time getting to know one another, and had a nice meal; for my last real meal prior to departing, I chose a club sandwich and jumbo soda (needed those calories!). After eating, we did a final check of our gear, signed our death waivers, contemplated the 90 degree, high humidity weather, and tried to get mentally ready for what was in store for us.
At exactly 2100 Saturday evening, we formed up (two columns, side by side), in front of Pvt. Quinn’s. Moving quickly, we made our way to a parking lot large enough for us to pause for safety briefings. It was at this point that I got my first glimpse of what would be the start of our journey, an enormous mountain, affectionately named “the suck”. Roger, one of the founders of S.E.R.E., is a former Navy Seal, and hard-core doesn’t even begin to describe this guy. He gave us the details of the first leg of our journey; 22 miles on the Appalachian Trail, no resupply, and no easy means to recover anyone that is injured, or decides to drop out of the event. Rationing water became a great concern and the thought of “what did I get myself into this time?” was frequent.
Obj 1 – Take the Mountain
Around 2110 we stepped off for our journey. The pace was fast and uphill for quite a while. During this time we had one person needing to stop to readjust gear, and eventually his gear was packed correctly so we could resume our trek. We pushed 22 miles through high-humidity, rationing water, dealing with mosquitoes, black widows, snakes, ticks, chiggers, poison ivy, poison oak, even possible Big Foot sightings; to say things were miserable would be an understatement. I twisted my ankles no less than 20 times, suffered from dehydration and heat cramps, developed various rashes, and once again, questioned my sanity for volunteering for this. During all this, I thought about how my suffering was nowhere near the pain and suffering that our fallen have experienced.
Mountains are a key piece of most combat environments, and one that the enemy usually takes advantage of; one that war fighters had to take from the enemy to gain position and win the fight. This objective was strategic to the event, and was intended to push us into a dark place and suffer in silence.
Mountains are a key piece of most combat environments, and one that the enemy usually takes advantage of; one that war fighters had to take from the enemy to gain position and win the fight. This objective was strategic to the event, and was intended to push us into a dark place and suffer in silence.
At some point on Sunday morning, I have no idea of the time, but the sun was up, we completed the first objective. We were met by our support crew, who arrived bearing muffins, donuts, coffee, jelly beans, and more. I have no idea how much water or how many Gatorades I drank, but it was refreshing. When we started our journey, I had 130 oz. of water, but during the last 4 miles I was completely out. Being able to properly ration water (barely), using salt tablets, and strategic use of Gatorade were the only things keeping me from becoming a heat casualty. During our hour long refuel stop, everyone took time to change socks, tend to blisters, eat, and hydrate before we moved on.
We were transported by our support team to our next segment. I wish I knew the name of the city, but I have no idea. We regrouped in the parking lot of a funeral home. Nice huh? Nevertheless, we were on to our next objective.
Obj 2 – Grind it Out
We unfurled our 7 flags, and prepared to traverse the Washington & Old Dominion trail, better known as the WO&D trail. The WO&D is roughly 43 miles long, and was created from an old railroad line; the tracks were removed, and the path was paved. It was very hot, and the heat off of the asphalt was ridiculous; to the point that you could feel the heat burning through your boots. Needless to say, this was an entirely different sort of suffering, brutal in its own way.
We were transported by our support team to our next segment. I wish I knew the name of the city, but I have no idea. We regrouped in the parking lot of a funeral home. Nice huh? Nevertheless, we were on to our next objective.
Obj 2 – Grind it Out
We unfurled our 7 flags, and prepared to traverse the Washington & Old Dominion trail, better known as the WO&D trail. The WO&D is roughly 43 miles long, and was created from an old railroad line; the tracks were removed, and the path was paved. It was very hot, and the heat off of the asphalt was ridiculous; to the point that you could feel the heat burning through your boots. Needless to say, this was an entirely different sort of suffering, brutal in its own way.
I forgot to mention time-hacks, or deadlines to reach certain points, we had to meet on this journey. Every time we paused for breaks, injuries, or readjusting gear impacted our pace, and there were times when speed was a necessity, adding another level to the already difficult trek.Our first major time-hack on this segment was 1400 Sunday; our destination was a BBQ restaurant. This location was almost half-way through our journey, and I can’t even tell you how great it felt to take a break in the shade. Everyone ate BBQ sandwiches, baked beans, potato salad, water, Gatorade, basically anything we could get our hands on. We spent about an hour refitting our gear, resupplying, and tending to blisters; this was high-priority for most of us, and I had some award winners – still have them in fact.
After stepping off again, we were focused on our next time hack; 2100 in Reston Virginia, approximately 19 miles away. We had rucked for a few hours before we started to suffer our first casualties. One cannot fully describe the difficulty of heavy rucks on asphalt, but I recommend trying it! We had two people drop, one due to an injured knee, and I am not sure about the other. The accumulation of miles, the heat, the sleep deprivation were severe and taking its toll on everyone.
We made our time-hack and arrived at the American Tap Room in Reston, VA. The restaurant knew we were coming, and did a great job of making us feel at home. They reserved a section for us, provided a few rounds for those interested, and even had a special menu item in honor of us. I had a cheeseburger, french fries, and the best coffee I have ever had in my life. In fact, I had many cups of coffee.
We spent an hour or so at this stop before it started to rain. Not just a little rain, but monsoon type rain. We were 40 miles into the journey; sore, tired, trying to find something within ourselves to continue, and now we were facing a downpour. The weather situation was completely demoralizing. Seriously, could this get any worse? Then, the fire alarm started to go off. Nobody moved to leave, and honestly, didn’t really care about the fire alarm; we assumed it was a false alarm. Sometime later, fire trucks showed up outside. Again, no worries, they were just here to check things out. A short time later, some of our team started to see reflections of flames in the fire truck windows. Turns out, the floor above our restaurant was on fire. So we grabbed our gear and beat feet down the street to a parking garage. Between the weather and the fire, the remainder of our challenge was going to start with an ominous tone.
At the parking garage, we met with our support team and were transported to another location for the next leg of our journey. Ten of us were in the lead element or the first group to be transported, and established a good spot to wait for the rest of the crew. The chosen spot was a hotel lobby that we commandeered, and waited about 45 minutes for everyone to arrive. My boots were virtually welded to my feet at this point so rather than risk not getting them back onto swollen feet, I used my time to hunt down an outlet and charge my phone. Once we regrouped, there was time to resupply, and give those who hadn’t changed socks or tended to blisters time to do so. We also learned that we had 3 more people drop, and were down to 19.
Obj 3 – To the Mall
Our next push was into Washington D.C., I am not sure how far we had to go, but we rucked for a while before crossing a bridge. They told me that we went through Georgetown, but since I have never been there before, I had no idea where we were. It seems that this area of town never sleeps as we passed dozens of people, all asking what we were doing, where we were going, etc. Unfortunately we had time-hacks to meet and didn’t have much time to speak to everyone with questions. We covered the distance from the hotel to the Mall area rather quickly. The 19 remaining members of our group were in severe pain, but we were also highly motivated.
Arriving in the Mall area, we headed towards the Capital building, and decided to take a break at the Washington Monument. It was roughly 0100 or 0200 Monday morning at this point, and I was able to take a 15 minute nap at the base of the Monument. If you ever get the chance, you need to do this; quite an experience.
While we were all lying under the Monument taking a break, the sprinkler system activated. For a group of people so sore and tired, we moved with lightning speed and didn’t get wet. Shortly after that heart attack alarm, we continued on towards the Capital. It was quite a sight, in the middle of the night, with nobody around.
We looped around the Mall a few times, visiting the monuments, and mostly alone with our thoughts. At this point, my “good” knee was hurting and my Achilles on the same leg was hurting badly… then something popped in my other (already bad) knee. I have no idea what happened – and still don’t know – but I can assure you that this was crippling, tear-jerking pain. Roughly 6 miles to complete our goal and the thought of not finishing was real. I have faced many difficult tasks and situations in my life. This was one of the toughest challenges I have ever had. Relying on the purpose and the sacrifice I had made the previous 50+ miles gave me just enough focus to continue.
Obj 4 – Final
I don’t believe that we can honor our fallen enough. These individuals sacrificed their bodies to honor in the best way we could. We fought personal demons through dark mountain trails, wide-open asphalt trails, humidity, blisters, fractures, and total exhaustion… we gave all we had. We honored those who died for our country and were able to raise money for their children, because we cannot forget those they left behind. There is no better way to spend a Memorial Day. With the exception of 5 hours sleep (broken up in miniscule cat naps), I was awake for 85 hours… and I am already looking forward to doing it again next year.
B.J., I am so happy that Stephen thought to 'introduce' us. Thank you for your service to our Nation, for the honor you give to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for her, and for your loyalty to our Gold Star families! Perhaps, one day, we will meet in person.
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